course conditions | summer 2009
The MiGCSA Scholarship Committee is happy to announce the 2009 scholarship applications are now available. These scholarship applications are for students studying or planning to study in a field unrelated to golf course management or students which fall outside the scope of eligibility for the regular turfgrass scholarship. Each District has its own scholarship funds and applications. The deadlines also vary by District. All applications are now available online at www.migcsa.org. If you have any questions please contact Rebecca Holloway, Scholarship Committee Staff Liaison. ALL APPLICATIONS ARE TO BE RETURNED TO: Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association Attn: Rebecca Holloway 3225 W. St. Joseph, Lansing, MI 48917 Phone: (517) 327-9207, Fax: (517) 321-0495 Good luck to all the applicants!!!
MT. PLEASANT SUPERINTENDENT RENEWS PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION Jeff Sweet, GCSAA certified golf course superintendent and general manager at Bucks Run Golf Club, Mt. Pleasant, Mich., has completed the renewal process for maintaining his status as a Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). Sweet has been at Bucks Run Golf Club since 1999. A 13-year GCSAA member, he initially achieved his certification in 2004. Approximately 1,900 golf course superintendents worldwide currently hold “CGCS” status.
DETROIT AREA SUPERINTENDENT RENEWS PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION Thomas V. Schall, GCSAA certified head golf course superintendent at Oakland University Golf and Learning Center, Rochester, Mich., has completed the renewal process for maintaining his status as a Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). Schall has been at Oakland University Golf and Learning Center since 2003. A 29-year GCSAA member, he initially achieved his certification in 1994. Approximately 1,900 golf course superintendents worldwide currently hold “CGCS” status.
LOOKING FOR A WAY TO GIVE BACK TO THE YOUTH IN YOUR DISTRICT? The MiGCSA is starting a used golf ball donation program with your help. Bring the extra golf balls you have laying around your golf course to the next MiGCSA Golf Event and we will donate them to a youth group in your District. If you have any questions or know of a youth group that would like a donation please contact a board member or the MiGCSA office.
According to GCSAA CEO, Mark Woodward, CGCS, “Twenty-five percent of GCSAA's Class A members have elected to earn the highest level of recognition through the professional designation “CGCS” by completion of the GCSAA Certification Program. This program requires their demonstration of a higher set of competencies in golf course management through testing and practical application. Employers can feel confident they employ a career professional who will increase their chances of having consistently superior course conditions.” GCSAA was among the first associations to institute a professional certification program, establishing its program in 1971 to recognize outstanding and progressive superintendents. In 2005, GCSAA completed a restructuring of its certification program in order to raise the level of documented professionalism through comprehensive continuing education. The restructured program was recognized by the National Certification Commission as “one of the most extensive and comprehensive certification programs for any profession.”
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